Maori Out to Halt Spectrum Bids

Share

Maori Out to Halt Spectrum Bids

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Bidders can start registering Tuesday for New Zealand's auction of the 2GHz radio spectrum band, but even at this late stage, a group of New Zealand's indigenous Maori are planning a court action to halt the sale.

At stake is the highly sought-after section of the spectrum that supports third-generation mobile.

Last year a group of New Zealand's indigenous Maori argued that ownership of the spectrum was their right as granted under the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document. The Treaty, signed in 1840 by Maori and the British government, promises to protect taonga, the Maori term for resources considered valuable by New Zealand's indigenous people. At the time of the Treaty signing, such resources included land, forests and fisheries. Maori believe the concept of taonga also extends to radio spectrum.

The Waitangi Tribunal, the consulting body that advises the government on Treaty issues, agreed with the claimants and urged the government to negotiate with Maori "to reserve a fair and equitable portion" of the spectrum.

The government rejected the claim, but agreed last month – after much debate – to set aside one of the four 15Mhz blocks of third-generation spectrum on offer for a pan-Maori trust at a five per cent discount to the average auction price.

The claimants, believing the government was wrong to reject the Tribunal's decision, plan to ask New Zealand's High Court to stop the auction and review the government's decision-making process.

Professor Whatarangi Winiata, spokesperson for the group, says having to take the government to court was disappointing: "It is not consistent with the Treaty partnership, but Maori have found it necessary."

"Attempts by the Crown (the New Zealand government) to confiscate one hundred percent of the nation's fisheries, all of the land on which the Crown had planted forests, and all of the broadcasting assets, are recent events when Maori have gone to court – even to the Privy Council" (New Zealand's highest court, based in the UK).

Acting Minister of Communications Trevor Mallard is confident that the government has followed due process. "This government has considered whether there is a Treaty right to the radio spectrum," says Mallard. "We have rejected that assertion. We have been advised that we are on strong legal grounds. I regret Professor Winiata's decision to waste time and money on lawyers."

Another Maori group upset at the government decision is the New Zealand Maori Council, whose executive chairman, Maanu Paul, says the establishment of a pan-Maori trust has sabotaged its plans to bid for the block of spectrum.

The clumsy handling of the spectrum issue has angered Maori, whose support at the last election was crucial for the government. A key plank in the Labour-Alliance's platform was the issue of "closing the gaps" between non-Maori and Maori, who, Paul says, are "refugees in their own country."

"The fastest way to close gaps is to settle the claims, and Maori will close their own gaps," Paul said.

The council will now consider siding with Professor Winiata's group in its planned legal action. Time for any court action is tight: the auction is less than a month away.

Bidders who want to be sure of registration before the July 10 start date have to register by June 29. Meanwhile, the pan-Maori trust, expected to go into partnership with an unnamed telecommunications company, is still being set up.